Der Werwolf: The Annals of Veight Volume 9

1. Auflage 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7183-3116-7
Verlag: J-Novel Club
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 318 Seiten

Reihe: Der Werwolf: The Annals of Veight

Some time after Veight and Gomoviroa leave to investigate the forest, Kite stumbles upon something ominous within one of northern Meraldia's abandoned mines-a desiccated corpse clinging to a powerful, enchanted goblet. Upon discovering the corpse it begins to move, and summons an army of skeletons to ravage Meraldia. As Airia and the other viceroys prepare for an extended siege, Veight returns from his trip and lays waste to the army. He brings the goblet back to Ryunheit to study it, but the moment he lets it out of his sight, it possesses Airia! What is this mysterious goblet, and what could it possibly want!?

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hyougetsu

Weitere Mitwirkende

Nishi(E)da

Ningen

Leseproben

Chapter 9

—The Black Werewolf King’s Absence and the Demon Ambassador’s Melancholy—

“Lady Airia. Lady Airia?”

“Oh, yes. I’m listening.” I hurriedly looked back up at Sir Kite and gave him my full attention. “You said that most of the miners working in the Boltz mines died during the war in north Meraldia, and now no one knows what’s become of the mine shafts, correct? Please continue your report.”

It seemed I’d been distracted again. While Kite went on to explain what his investigation team had found, I lapsed back into thought. Our conflict with Rolmund to the north was over, and we had an alliance with Wa to the east. Meraldia was at peace. The man responsible for that peace had left Ryunheit at the height of summer to explore the forest to the west. Months had passed since then, and autumn was beginning to rear its head.

The demon capital was as lively and peaceful as usual today. All of Meraldia’s domestic and international issues had been resolved, so there was nothing for the citizens to fear. The demons that used to disrupt Ryunheit’s trade were now patrolling the highways to keep our caravans safe. Neither beasts nor monsters threatened our merchants. Of course, there were still minor squabbles between races, but the leaders of the demon army did a good job in mediating all disputes, and we’d had no major incidents. Demons, by and large, had shown they were willing to respect human laws. This, too, was all thanks to the efforts of one man.

I cut my thoughts short and looked up at Kite once more. He’d halted his report and was giving me a troubled look.

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

“Umm, don’t take this the wrong way, Lady Airia. But ever since Veight left, you’ve been spacing out a lot.”

I gulped in surprise. Trying to hide how flustered I was, I hurriedly penned a missive and signed it.

“During your preliminary investigation, you found a number of strange tools that had no discernible mining purpose, correct? I’m authorizing a second, more thorough search. Here’s the official order; please get your team ready.”

“O-Okay. So you were listening to me... I’m terribly sorry for implying you were absent-minded! Please accept my humble apology!”

“You have nothing to apologize for. It’s exactly as you say. I’ve been letting my mind wander too often. I’ll be more careful in the future.”

That being said, it wasn’t as though my job was very difficult at the moment. I mostly took care of whatever documents came my way. There were no pressing crises that required my input, nor were there any hard decisions I faced to make sure Ryunheit’s government was running smoothly. Things were progressing at an ideal pace.

After my meeting with Kite, I took care of the remaining documents to clear my head. Once my work was finished, I glanced out the window. Judging by the position of the sun, it wasn’t even noon yet.

“But he isn’t around to accompany me...” I whispered.

The days since Veight’s departure had been filled with tedium and loneliness. If I’d known I would be pining for him this badly, I would have begged him to stay in Ryunheit. Some time ago, he had promised to fulfill any one wish of mine. Considering how upright he was, had I wished for him to stay here, he would have done so—but I was afraid of tying him down. Knowing how kind he is, I knew he would fulfill any request of mine no matter how selfish. Doing that would mean making life difficult for him, however. I wanted to let him live his life as freely as possible.

Still, I was regretting my choice to let him go. If I was being honest with myself, I want to tie him down. I wanted to keep him all to myself. The reason I fancied him was because he was kind to everyone, but that was also what I couldn’t stand about him.

It was solely thanks to him that our relationships with Wa and Rolmund were so amicable. Recently, I had even received a letter from Eleora, the new empress. Now that the political situation in Rolmund had stabilized, she was planning on sending Ashley to Meraldia as an envoy. It appeared Ashley wanted to help Woroy with his new city, as he was planning on becoming Woroy’s agricultural advisor. He would also be bringing along members of his old faction, as well as members of the Doneiks faction who wanted to immigrate to Meraldia. We had already given our permission to let them live here.

As always, the Nation of Wa was strangely deferential to Veight. Their respect wasn’t for the Commonwealth Council itself, but rather Veight as a person. Though I didn’t know everything that happened in Wa, it seemed Veight did a great service to the Chrysanthemum Court. Regardless, thanks to his services, trade talks were proceeding smoothly. From what I could tell, Wa appeared to be led by wise and reasonable people.

Lastly, the domestic situation was stable. In fact, things were so stable in Meraldia that I had no doubt Veight would be bored staying here. He loved peace, but he was the kind of person who was never satisfied with a peaceful life. It was his nature to constantly be looking for something to do. Honestly, I was the same way, so I could empathize. But it would be nice if we could work side by side for the rest of our lives.

“He’s probably gotten himself into another big fight around now...”

Though I knew it would be bad if anyone overheard, I couldn’t help but make comments like these from time to time. Sighing, I got to my feet.

The first thing I saw after leaving the manor was the remodeled theater and its new signboard. The new sign read and underneath it was a picture of the Black Werewolf King’s face in profile as he stared at the rising sun. His face in his werewolf form was drawn behind him, in the predawn darkness. A group of young women were stopped in front of the sign and looking up at it.

“Lord Veight is so handsome, isn’t he!?”

“This is what Lord Veight really looks like, right? He seems nice...but stern.”

“I’ve heard he’s terrifying when he gets angry. I kinda wanna see him get mad now.”

“I bet he’d look cool when he’s angry too.”

I wasn’t very different from those fawning girls a few years ago. Before my father died, I was infatuated with plays of heroism and romance too. I knew exactly how those girls were feeling right now. Though, if I could make one correction, neither I nor anyone around me had ever seen Veight get angry. It seemed the rumors going around about him had some misinformation mixed in. The girls were unaware that I was observing them, and they excitedly continued their conversation.

“Girls, let’s go see the play on payday!”

“Sounds like a great idea. I don’t know why, but all the plays have cheap tickets... Well, the good seats are still expensive.”

The reason the plays were so cheap was because Forne had invested a lot of Veira’s funds into them. According to him, it was better to make people want to give you their money than to ask for it upfront.

“I think I’ll buy the Black Werewolf King’s cup! They sell a replica of the one they use for the plays!”

“Really!? You mean the one he used when he was exchanging oaths with the White Tiger!?”

“Yeah! It’s not that expensive either. I can pretend I’m the one exchanging oaths with Lord Veight instead...”

“I-I see, so they sell copies of that cup... I think I’ll buy it too.”

The girls all looked like they were enjoying themselves. As the girls’ conversation progressed, it became more about spending money for spending’s sake than actually wanting any of the things they were planning on buying. Forne was pretty insightful when it came to things like this. Everything was so peaceful that I was beginning to worry something bad might happen soon. Fahn, who served as my bodyguard whenever I went out, turned to me with a bemused smile.

“All the humans love Veight. What magic did he use on them?”

I smiled back at her and replied, “It’s not magic he used, Fahn. He just treated everyone with sincerity and respect. His popularity is a result of that.”

“I don’t really get it. The way humans think is way too complicated for me. Like, in my head it makes sense, but I still can’t keep up with you guys sometimes.”

Fahn smiled awkwardly, but then her expression cleared up and she leaned closer to me.

“Speaking of love, what about Veight?”

“Huh!?” I gasped. “Veight’s...a trustworthy ally and a good friend. I respect him from the bottom of my heart.”

I was blindsided by the question, but I was used to giving rehearsed responses like that. After inheriting the position of viceroy, I had been forced to parrot phrases like...